Silicon Reclaim Wafer Market Expected to Grow to $413 Million by 2013

Silicon Reclaim Wafer
Market Expected to Grow to $413 Million by 2013

The
worldwide reclaim wafer market is estimated at $374 million in 2011 and is forecasted
to reach $413 million by 2013. While the reclaim market grew 13 percent in
2011, reclaim suppliers face a number of issues including a shortage of
feedstock for reclaimed wafers and rising costs associated with more complex
cleaning requirements and inspection for advanced geometries.

As
the result of supply better aligning to demand, downward pricing pressure finally reversed trend in 2011 for all wafer sizes
although prices still have not recovered to pre-2009 downturn levels. A major factor
impacting pricing is the increasing tightening of specifications, which require
capital intensive inspection tools. There are a limited number of suppliers
capable of conducting advanced inspection, which is causing a bifurcation of
pricing with looser specifications fetching lower prices and tighter
specifications (e.g. specifications requiring advanced inspection) bringing
higher rates. As more advanced device manufacturing fully ramps, it is expected
that smaller, less sophisticated suppliers will exit the market.

Japan
is the largest reclaim market in terms of revenue and numbers of wafers and is
expected to remain so for the duration of the forecast because of the installed
fab base and prominent position of reclaim companies there. Taiwan reclaimed
the second top spot in terms of revenues from North America in 2011, as its
reclaim market grew faster than North America’s.

Japan-based
suppliers account for over 50 percent of worldwide reclaim market revenues,
even with the 2011 departure of Rasa, a dominant supplier. Suppliers based in
North America and Europe benefited from Rasa’s departure and increased coverage
of their respective domestic markets. Rasa’s assets have since been acquired by
RSTec. It remains to be seen how much momentum RSTec will achieve in this
extremely competitive market. With regard to capacity, Japan suppliers account
for almost 60 percent of large diameter (200 mm and 300 mm) capacity in 2011,
while companies in Asia Pacific represent just under 30 percent. The remainder
of large diameter capacity is provided by companies based in Europe and North
America.

Growth of the silicon
reclaim wafer market is closely tied to wafer starts, given positive growth
expectations for this year and the next for semiconductors, it is expected that
the silicon reclaim market will enjoy similar growth as well, especially if
supply remains in balance with demand.

A
recently SEMI published report, Silicon Reclaim Wafer Characterization Summary,
provides details on the 2011 silicon wafer reclaim for the semiconductor market
and provides a forecast to 2013. Seven regions of the world are covered in this
report including North America, Japan, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, China, and Rest
of World (ROW). Market estimates for reclaim wafers include semiconductor
applications including equipment and IC manufacturing markets. Regional reclaim
pricing and capacity are also discussed.

Please click
here
for additional information about this new report as well as a list of tables
and figures. For information about other
SEMI market research reports, please visit www.semi.org/marketinfo.